Family Reunion
by Mine de Crayon
Summary: To celebrate their wedding, Kate and Rick invite their families for a reception.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

That evening, in Castle and Beckett's loft, a party was organized to celebrate the recent wedding. To be forgiven for not inviting their friends to the ceremony, the couple called on the best caterer in town and invited a jazz band to perform their favorite songs.

While waiting for their guests, Kate was seating with Lanie on the couch. In fact, this afternoon, the young coroner had invited her best friend to a spa session in a luxurious New York establishment.

"You know, if someone would have told us at the beginning of your collaboration that you would end up marrying Castle, I wouldn't have believed it."

"I know, I wouldn't have believed it either, but here we are, seven years later! You know what they say: love can happen to you when you don't expect it."

"Who knows, in the end, in seven years' time, I may be married to Eric Vaughn. Remember, he's the guy who kissed you two years ago."

"Stop reminding me of that old story!" Said Kate with a laugh. "It's an old story and besides, we both knew you'd end up marrying Javier."

"I don't know, Kate! You know, everything is always complicated between Javier and me! It's never the right time for things to work out between us, but we both know there will always be something important between us."

At that moment, Rick approached the two friends and warned them that the rest of the guests had arrived. The two women got up from the couch and went to greet the guests.

For this party that promised to be magnificent, everyone made the trip: Ryan and his wife, Javier, Captain Gate and her husband, Maddie, Jim Beckett and Alexis with her mother, Meredith. The event was launched on a high level with a speech from Lanie.

"Kate, the first time we met, we were in first-year Stanford. We shared a small studio on campus with Maddie. We were young, we were 18, we thought we were living the best years of our lives, but we were wrong. We spent our evenings imagining our future, imagining what we will become in the future. Kate, today you're living the future you've always dreamed of and I can tell you that we wouldn't even have imagined what you'll become. Today, you are married to an extraordinary man and you are an incredible woman. You are strong, you are beautiful, you always do everything to make the world a better place and I am so proud of you and your happiness. You deserve what's happening to you and we love you. We all do!"

After this speech, which had deeply moved Kate, Kate gave a long hug to her two friends. On the other side of the room, Rick was sharing a glass with his father-in-law.

"You know, Kate told me you were wondering what I thought of you." Said Jim to the writer. "Is that true?"

"Yes, it is. You are so important to her and my goal is to make her happy so I don't want to be the man who comes between you and your daughter, especially not after what happened to both of you."

"Rick, when you and Kate had your first Christmas as a couple, my daughter called me the next day and told me that thanks to you, she had reconciled with that holiday. It was then that I realized how well you were able to break down the walls she had had since Johanna's death and that I must admit, I still have."

"Your daughter deserves to be happy. More than anyone else. I promise you on everything I have that I will always do everything for her."

"I know that, and I am proud that my daughter has found someone like you to share her life. I can tell you that Johanna would have loved you."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Meanwhile, Lanie, Alexis and Maddie were standing at the bar and sharing the cocktails prepared by the bartender that the couple had hired.

"Girls, have you noticed any unusual things or changes in Kate lately?" Asked Maddie

"No, nothing specials these days!" replied the young red-headed girl. "Why, are we supposed to have noticed anything weird?"

"Even you, Lanie?" Asked Maddie "You spent the day together at the SPA! By the way, thank you for inviting me!" The two women remained astonished and continued to wonder, " Well, girls, stop messing with me. None of you who spend a large part of your lives with her has noticed that she hasn't had a drink all evening."

When she heard this, Alexis had a sudden surprise before saying, "You're right, she didn't drink anything tonight. Look, girls, if she's pregnant, my dad doesn't know because otherwise, I would have been the first to know but I have to go talk to her: I want to know if I'm going to have a little brother or a little sister."

Alexis stood up and walked up to Kate who was in the middle of a discussion with one of the waiters at the party.

"Kate, can I have a word with you in private for a few minutes?"

"Of course, Alexis, you know very well that I'm always there when you need to talk." They both went up to the young woman's room. "So, what's your concern?"

"So, maybe it'll sound like a stupid question, but why didn't you drink anything during the evening? I know it may sound weird, but it's your wedding and you really haven't even had a glass of champagne to celebrate."

"Well... I'm going to have to tell you something that even your father doesn't know. I'm pregnant, I found out this morning before I went to the spa. I haven't had time to tell your father yet and I wanted to do something special to tell him. Could you not tell him?"

"I'm so happy for you, you're going to have the best child in the world. I'm going to be a big sister! Of course, it's up to you to tell Dad."

"Thank you Alexis and I'm glad you're my child's older sister because I know that this child will be loved in the Castle family."

"I promise you I'll do everything to make this child felt loved among us. I'm so honored to know about this pregnancy. So, I guess you want to wait before you tell Lanie and Maddy?"

"Yes, I will be more comfortable if the world doesn't know about my pregnancy before Rick but don't worry, I'll tell him just at the end of the party!"

"I wish I could have been a little mouse to see how she'd react when you tell him."

"I know, I can't wait to tell him. I look forward to telling him that, seeing his eyes and being able to share my excitement with him!"


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Two days later, Kate decided to prepare dinner for her husband. Kate had put the little dishes in the big ones by preparing all her man's favorite dishes. When the writer returned home, his wife ran to him and kissed him warmly.

"What on earth did I do to deserve all this?"

"Just because, I wanted to thank you because you are an incredible man and because I love you so much!"

"It's not hard to be a good husband with you, my love. You're so fantastic that I have to make everything I can to try to deserve you and to make you forget that you could find a lot better than Richard Castle."

"Come on, you know very well that I love you and that you are absolutely fantastic."

After saying that, Kate went to the kitchen and grabbed two glasses that she had previously prepared. She handed one to her husband and they both tasted their non-alcoholic drink in silence. After finishing the glass, they sat around the table. Rick asked her wife:

"So, what fabulous dish has my fabulous wife prepared?"

"I made us a little surprise dish," she said as she got up. She stood up and took two plates out of the fridge, which was covered with bells. She put each of the plates in front of them.

As Rick raised the bell in front of him, Rick saw that a picture was being placed, face down against the plate. As he turned it over, he realized that this photo was an ultrasound.

"What the heck is that ultrasound? Are you pregnant?"

"Yeah, babe! Yes! I'm pregnant! We are having a baby!"

"Is that true? Are we going to be parents?"

"Yeah, we are going to have a little-Caskett baby!"

"I can't believe it! Kate, you make me so happy and now we're going to give birth to a child together! I am the happiest man in the world! When do you find out you were pregnant ?"

"Three days ago ! I told Alexis during our wedding party but I wanted to do something special to announce it to you ! I'm so glad !"

The writer laid his lips on his wife's lips while between them, in Kate's womb, grew the physical representation of their love: their child.


End file.
